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One of the things the gospel writers do as they
present their accounts of the life and words of Jesus, is
to describe the wide range of responses to Jesus. That's
very apparent in today's reading from John 12. Here we
see a range of responses to Jesus, ranging from Mary's
loving devotion to the chief priests' and Pharisees' fear
and jealousy. |
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But
before we look at these different responses, let's think
about the setting of this section. John presents 2 fairly
unrelated episodes in Jesus life, yet you can't help but
feel that he wants to make a connection. First there's
the anointing of Jesus by Mary and then the triumphal
entry into Jerusalem. Now if that were all you knew about
the 2 events, you might well think that the anointing is
a sign of Jesus kingship. Mary is anointing Jesus because
he's about to become the King of the Jews. That would
certainly fit with the response of the crowd when Jesus
appears at the city gates riding a donkey. But it isn't
that simple. John doesn't have Mary anointing Jesus'
head, as is the case in the parallel accounts of Matthew
& Mark. Rather she anoints his feet. So there's
obviously more to it than just a king being anointed. |
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In fact
Jesus himself points out that this anointing isn't a
coronation act. Rather it's in preparation for his
burial. So here we have an interesting thing. John has
put these two events together in such a way that we
immediately think of the anointed King, yet as we read
the detail we discover that the anointing he receives
isn't at all what we might think of at first. But then as
we think about it some more, we realise that perhaps
that's because Jesus Kingship is so different from what
we would otherwise expect. Just look ahead a few verses
to 12:32. Jesus is talking about his name being
glorified, as you would expect of a King, but here is
what he says: (John 12:32 NRSV) "And I, when I am
lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to
myself." And it goes on to say that he said this to
indicate what sort of death he was going to die. Here is
a King who when he's anointed is anointed for death. Here
is a King whose glorification comes about by him being
crucified. |
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Well,
let's think about the various responses we find in this
passage to Jesus, the anointed King. When you understand
the nature of his kingship, and where his anointing is
pointed, you can understand why there's a variety of
responses, can't you? |
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The first
person we encounter in the story is Mary. Jesus is
reclining at table with Lazarus and Martha and Mary, when
Mary goes and gets a jar of very expensive perfume. It's
such a rare perfume, in fact, we're told a bit further
on, that it would have cost a year's wages: say, $35,000
in today's terms. Who knows how she came by it. Perhaps
it was a family heirloom. Perhaps it had formed part of
her dowry. But in any case it's an incredibly extravagant
act on her part. I'm not sure we have an equivalent in
our modern terms. I can't imagine a bottle of perfume
costing $35,000. Perhaps you could liken it to someone
opening a bottle of 1951 Grange Hermitage to toast
someone they admired. Well, that's what she does. Her
love and devotion for Jesus is so great that she ignores
the cost and pours it over him, right down to his feet. |
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But it
isn't just the financial cost that she ignores. Again,
jump forward to the next chapter of John, and you'll read
the story of Jesus washing the disciples feet. There the
disciples are dismayed that Jesus would lower himself to
wash their feet. Such an undignified act just isn't right
for one of Jesus' stature. Yet here's Mary, ignoring the
loss of dignity involved in washing Jesus feet, even to
the extent of wiping his feet afterwards with her hair.
Her devotion to him is so great that she'd do anything
for him. And when she's finished notice the little bit of
detail that John throws in, in v3: (John 12:3-19 NRSV)
"The house was filled with the fragrance of the
perfume." It's as though John's saying this act
itself has filled the house with its fragrance. In the
words of Phil 4, it's "a fragrant offering, a
sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God." |
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But this
act of devotion evokes a different response, this time
from Judas. He wants to know "Why was this perfume
not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to
the poor?" His response of course is motivated by
greed. We're told that he was used to dipping into the
common funds. He reminds me a bit of Steve Martin's
character in the movie, Leap of Faith. You may remember
he was an itinerant preacher who went around the
countryside, pretending to heal people, but really just
conning them. He was really just in it for a buck. Then
one day a young boy really was healed and he was faced
with a dilemma. Should he change his approach and start
to believe that God could heal, or should he just keep on
making money out of peoples' gullibility? Well ,he
chooses the easier and more lucrative alternative. Like
Judas, he's more interested in the possibility of
financial gain than in the reality of God's power being
displayed. |
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But Judas
isn't alone in failing to respond to Jesus in faith. The
next people we come across are the High Priests. Their
response is one of jealousy. They can see that more and
more people are going over to Jesus and believing in him,
particularly following the raising of Lazarus. So their
response is simple. "We'd better get rid of Lazarus.
That at least will remove one of our problems." |
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This of
course isn't the first time they've contemplated murder
in order to further their cause. In the previous chapter
which we'll actually look at next week, Caiaphas the High
Priest suggests it would be better that Jesus die (be
killed) than that the whole nation be wiped out and now
their attitude is hardening. I guess once you've
contemplated one act of murder a second is easy enough to
add to it. |
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But then
we move on to the next day, and as Jesus begins his final
march to Jerusalem word spreads, until a great crowd is
pouring out of the city to greet him. Now it's hard to
say just how big this crowd would have been, but one
record in the history written by Josephus describes a
crowd in Jerusalem for the passover festival around AD 65
as being of the order of 2.7 million people. Now there
may be a bit of journalistic or nationalistic
exaggeration in that number, but still, the crowds in
Jerusalem for a festival like this would have been
immense. So you can imagine the scene. People have heard
of Jesus' reputation. They've no doubt heard the recent
stories of the raising of Lazarus, and rumours are
spreading that this must be the promised Messiah, come to
rescue his people. So they pour out of the city to
welcome him, shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is the one
who comes in the name of the Lord-- the King of
Israel!" Jesus gets on a donkey which he rides into
Jerusalem thus fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah. Note
though that the disciples don't actually understand the
significance of the donkey until afterwards. I'm sure
Jesus does, but they don't until after he's been
glorified. That is, after his death and resurrection.
Still, even if they don't understand the full
significance of this act of entry into Jerusalem riding
on a donkey, the crowd hails him as the promised King of
Israel, the one who comes in the name of the Lord. |
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What's
more the crowd don't just respond to Jesus by hailing him
as King. Look at v17. "So the crowd that had been
with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and
raised him from the dead continued to testify." That
is they continued to spread the word about what Jesus had
done, and who he was. They were so overwhelmed by what
had happened that they just couldn't keep quiet. I guess
we should be like that shouldn't we? Unable to stop
ourselves talking about the things God has done for us. |
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Note by
the way that this response of the crowd is only
short-lived. By the end of the chapter John comments that
the majority still didn't believe in him, though some
did. |
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The
leaders of those who didn't believe in him of course were
the Pharisees. In v19 we see their attitude hardening
towards him. Like the chief priests they think this has
all gone far enough. Their observing of détente hasn't
achieved anything. In fact it's just made matters worse.
He seems to be getting more and more popular and their
hold over the people is getting less and less. So
something needs to be done. |
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But
finally, in the statement by the Pharisees we find a
further response. They say. "Look, the world has
gone after him!" Now in John's gospel that's quite a
significant statement. John uses the term world in his
gospel to refer to people everywhere, without racial
distinction, who are lost and in rebellion against God
and who need to be saved. John 3:16 we all know don't we?
(John 3:16 NRSV) ""For God so loved the world
that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes
in him may not perish but may have eternal life." So
when the Pharisees comment that the whole world has gone
after him, it's an indicator that Jesus' task on earth is
coming to its conclusion. His mission is almost complete.
In fact the next few verses reinforce that idea, as a
group of Greek believers ask to see Jesus, and Jesus
says, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be
glorified." (John 12:23 NRSV) The coming of these
Greeks signals the final stage of his mission which is to
bring salvation to all the world. |
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So here
we have a range of responses to Jesus. Adoring love and
devotion, willing to give up everything for him; greed
and self-interest, looking only for what benefits can be
found in being part of his team; jealousy and hatred,
leading to plans of murder; honour and praise for the one
who is seen as God's promised Messiah, the King of
Israel. Now I think you'll find all of those responses in
our world today. You'll probably even find them in
various parts of the church. |
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Jesus is
the sort of person who demands a response isn't he?
Particularly when you read the account of his life as
John presents it, you can't just ignore him. As we saw a
couple of weeks ago, he doesn't leave us room for sitting
on the fence. His claims are quite confronting. (John
10:7-9 NRSV) "Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate
for the sheep. 8All who came before me are
thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to
them. 9I am the gate. Whoever enters by me
will be saved, and will come in and go out and find
pasture." (John 10:30 NRSV) "The Father and I
are one." (John 11:25-26 NRSV) "I am the
resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even
though they die, will live, 26and everyone who
lives and believes in me will never die." (John 14:6
NRSV) "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No
one comes to the Father except through me." |
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We can
respond to Jesus claims by believing in him and receiving
the eternal life he offers, or we can respond like the
chief priests and Pharisees, by being offended at his
exclusive claim to be the source of eternal life. Or we
might respond like Judas and look for what we can get out
of being one of Jesus' followers in terms of material
benefits. There are certainly some who have chosen that
path. |
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But it
doesn't take much wisdom to see that the response of Mary
is the preferred response does it? Sure she gave up a lot
to show her love for Jesus. It can be costly to be a
disciple. But what Jesus offers far outweighs any cost of
following him. To come before God the Father without
fear, with our sins removed, wiped clean, to live forever
in his presence, far outweighs anything we might choose
to give up out of our love for him. |
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So let's
be like Mary and like those in the crowd who chose to
follow their King to the end. Let's respond to God's love
for us in Jesus Christ, by giving him everything we have,
our praise, our worldly goods, our lives. As Rom 12 says,
let's present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and
pleasing to God. Let it be a fragrant offering, a
sacrifice acceptable to God. |
